Govt relents, EduMin to meet agitating teachers

Express News Service |Published: 12th September 2018 02:50 AM

BHUBANESWAR: Assembly on Tuesday witnessed noisy scenes over the State Government’s alleged indifference towards fulfilling the demands of the agitating teachers even as Speaker Pradip Amat convened an all-party meeting to resolve the issue.

Normalcy returned to the House during the afternoon session after the Speaker directed Minister for School and Mass Education Badrinarayan Patro to discuss with the agitating teachers about their demands. The Speaker issued the direction after the all-party meeting.

The question hour was disrupted as BJP rushed to the well of the House shouting slogans against the State Government alleging that it is busy about its self-propagation in the name of investment though many of the proposed projects have not materialised. The BJP members also took strong exception to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s three-day New Delhi visit to attend the Make-In-Odisha conclave from Wednesday. Unable to run the proceedings, the Speaker adjourned the House till 11.30 am.

Earlier, the Speaker had allowed discussion on the admissibility of an adjournment motion brought by the Congress to discuss the demands of block grant teachers who have been agitating in the State Capital for about a month.

Participating in the discussion on the adjournment motion, Leader of the Opposition Narasingh Mishra criticised the State Government for its lack of interest to resolve the problems faced by the teachers. Though education is one of the fundamental rights of the citizens, the Government is not spending money on this, Mishra said and added that funds are being spent on populist measures to woo the people with an eye on elections.

Mishra urged the Speaker to intervene in the matter in view of the State Government’s lack of interest in the matter. He demanded that the Speaker should adjourn the House and convene an all-party meeting to discuss the demands of the agitating teachers. Leader of the BJP legislature party KV Singhdeo and Congress chief whip Tara Prasad Bahinipati also criticised the State Government for ignoring the demands of the teachers who are agitating for the last 28 days.